Magnesium calcium acetate has emerged in recent years as a viable, relatively non-polluting replacement for salt (sodium chloride), urea and ethylene glycol pavement surface deicers. However, the low-water, low-energy processes which have been developed to produce the material possess inherent limitations which inevitably lead to products of inferior quality. Specifically, such products are slow to dissolve in water, and therefore to melt ice. Moreover, impurities present in these products as a result of the inherent difficulties in process control are the direct cause of metallic corrosion, particularly of aircraft materials of construction.
The present invention retains the low-energy process features required to meet demands of low cost, while at the same time eliminating the undesirable characteristics of product, by virtue of a novel processing concept. Furthermore, a process option emerges which allows for production of a low-cost technical grade product which may have utility in non-deicer applications.